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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764863">Operation Cheer Up The E-Boy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/prioriteas/pseuds/prioriteas'>prioriteas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gifts for Wonderful People [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>South Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Happy, can you believe i just tagged a south park fic 'happy', just friends hanging out tbh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:02:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,673</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/prioriteas/pseuds/prioriteas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stan's been acting off all week, and today it's come to a head. The gang decides to visit him, and a ton of goofing off ensues.</p><p>Based on an absolutely <em>fantastic</em> roleplay experience. Nothing has ever left me feeling happier, seriously. It meant so, so much to me, and I hope I’ve managed to translate even some of that feeling into this!<br/>Thank you so much to KT and Nia for originally writing out this story with me, and thanks to Venus for being there with us and offering some of the funniest commentary I've ever read. Thanks x2 to Nia for her fantastic Cartman portrayal and for letting me steal some of her lines for this, <em>and</em> for being a wonderful beta for this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gregory of Yardale/Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski &amp; Eric Cartman &amp; Kenny McCormick &amp; Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski/Eric Cartman (implied)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gifts for Wonderful People [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789855</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Operation Cheer Up The E-Boy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy birthday, KT!<br/>I hope you enjoy this, and I hope today is just wonderful for you.</p><p>--</p><p>Some (maybe-needed) context for outside readers:<br/>- The boys are 16-17 in this fic.<br/>- Gregory of Yardale is back in South Park as of one month ago.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cartman pounded on the door a lot more loudly than necessary. Kyle cringed and nudged him with his elbow, shooting him a look. The look was returned, defiant, and Kyle rolled his eyes. They’d bumped into each other completely by accident, minutes before receiving the notification that <em>everyone</em> was going to Stan’s. Normally, it might’ve amused Kyle that the timing was so perfect, but it was hard to feel much besides worry at the moment. Each moment spent waiting for the door to open made him more and more nervous. It was nearly overwhelming, and Kyle suddenly felt a hand squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. Then, the door opened, the hand let go, Stan was standing there, and Kyle let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.</p><p>Before he could say anything, (something positive or friendly, probably), Cartman shouldered his way inside, loudly proclaiming that Stan looked like “total shit” and that it had “taken him long enough, <em>Christ</em>.” Once again, Kyle cringed, but he relaxed the moment Stan waved him in. He caught the tail-end of a small smile flashing across his friend’s face.</p><p>“You don’t look too hot, yourself,” Stan muttered. He kicked the door shut and stepped over to the couch. He grabbed the fleece blanket on the back and wrapped himself up in it, then collapsed onto the couch with a groan. </p><p>Kyle gratefully dropped the pizza boxes onto the living room table, and the chip bags balanced precariously on top of them finally slid off and onto the ground. He cursed quietly to himself, then stepped back and eyed Stan for a moment or two. Cartman hadn’t been wrong; Stan did, in fact, look like shit. His eyes were puffy and red, and he looked like he hadn’t showered or even changed his clothes in several days. </p><p>Yikes, but that’s why they were there. Kyle and Cartman exchanged yet another glance.</p><p>Kyle plopped down onto the couch near Stan, and the two of them sat silently while Cartman set up Guitar Hero. At some point, Stan took out his phone and frowned at it for several seconds before beginning to type something. Midway through the Guitar Hero setup, the front door opened, and all heads turned towards Kenny and Gizmo as they entered. Kenny joined them on the couch, and Stan put down his phone.</p><p>As promised, it only took Gizmo seconds to take an interest in Stan’s finger.</p><p>“It doesn’t hurt at <em>all</em>,” Stan said. He wiggled his finger near Gizmo’s mouth and the opossum got another good chomp in before tiring himself out. “That’s so fucking weird.”</p><p>“Dude, it means he likes you,” Kenny said. He grabbed Gizmo’s tail and hoisted him into the air, then dropped him onto Stan’s shoulder. The opossum hissed, but didn’t seem too bothered besides that. “Congrats.”</p><p>This time, Stan’s smile was a little less forced.</p><p>Fifteen minutes down the line, Cartman finally seemed satisfied with their setup, and he let out a puff of breath and shot Stan another glare.</p><p>“Since when was your TV so fucked, dude?”</p><p>Stan shrugged absentmindedly, not looking up from his phone. He was still wrapped in the blanket, slumped back against one of the arms of the couch with Gizmo curled up on his stomach.</p><p>“Anyway, doesn’t matter. We’re all set; get ready for the performance of your goddamn life.” Cartman grabbed the game’s microphone as he spoke, and pointed it at Stan at the end of his sentence.</p><p>Silence.</p><p>“Uh, hello?” Cartman waved the microphone in Stan’s direction. </p><p>“Huh?” </p><p>“Put down your fucking phone, Stan.” Cartman clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “So rude.”</p><p>“Shut up, dude, I’m-” Stan seemed to think better of what he was about to say, then, and stopped himself. “Doesn’t matter,” he muttered.</p><p>“No. No, no, no, you’re not getting off that easy!” Cartman dropped the microphone and stepped over to the arm of the couch. He tried to peer over Stan’s shoulder at the screen, but Stan hid it from his view. “What are you doing, texting your <em>boyfriend</em>? He sneered and tried to snatch the phone.</p><p>“So what if I am?” Stan glared at him, and jerked his phone out of Cartman’s reach before he could grab it. This was, clearly, a massive mistake.</p><p>Kyle hesitated only for a moment, and then grabbed the phone from Stan and scrambled off of the couch. He looked at the screen as he moved away, and grinned.</p><p>“Aw, look, you <em>love</em> hi-” </p><p>Stan lunged from his spot on the couch (Gizmo clawed his way up the back of the couch, hissing, before he could be crushed) and tackled Kyle to the ground. He grabbed for the phone, and the two of them grappled for it for several seconds. </p><p>Cartman cheered, and Kenny snickered before starting to chant, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”</p><p>Kyle managed to elbow Stan in the stomach, effectively winding him for long enough to get away. He looked at the screen. Three messages, all incoherent key-smashing, were sent during their battle. Gregory’s response was one of confused concern, and Kyle grinned. He opened their group chat, and frantically started to type out a message. He managed to get about halfway through before Stan slammed into him again. A second struggle ensued, but ultimately, Kyle was victorious. Before Stan regained possession of the phone, two messages were sent.</p><p>[ 9:44 pm ] <strong>stantheman:</strong> Hey guys just letting you know tha thsuuu THAT KYLE IS MY BEST FRIEND AND EH IS MY FAVRoite and i think hes ver788rui8dopp wk&amp;&amp;;<br/>
[ 9:44 pm ] <strong>stantheman:</strong> i can’tsenfjchwbaemdsnfar32y4hb32we5mnr asfnm heloewfkosidlfkhelp</p><p>Cartman had long since pulled out his phone. His lips moved as he read out the two messages, and then he began to howl with laughter. Kyle grinned, panting, and flopped back down onto the couch.</p><p>“My work here is done!” he announced. </p><p>“Wait! Wait, me next!” Cartman managed between laughs, and before Stan had time to finish typing out an explanation to Gregory, he was once again attacked. This struggle was far more intense, and ultimately much more violent. Cartman was elbowed in the already-bruised nose after he managed to send his message, and he cursed loudly, shoving Stan back. The messages:</p><p>[ 9:46 ] <strong>stantheman:</strong> nostiwoelur999y 76 wrti7tyujhbhf  gfryuk<br/>
[ 9:47 ] <strong>stantheman:</strong> CARTWMI4IOERCART,AMN IS SUPER COOL SANSDAJ ADN 342AWE6SOME</p><p>There was a terrifying moment in which nobody in the room was quite sure if the tears streaming down Cartman’s face meant bad things for them all, but the sudden tension in the room vanished when it became clear Cartman was still laughing, despite the blood now running from his nose.</p><p>Kyle dragged him, still cackling, from the room. Blood all over Stan’s living room was <em>not</em> what they needed right now. He swiped several tissues from a tissue-box on a shelf in the next room, and handed them off to a still-giggling Cartman. <em>Giggling</em>. What the fuck?</p><p>“What the fuck?” Kyle deadpanned.</p><p>Cartman waved a hand, still unable to speak, and stuffed the tissues into his nose to stop the blood flow as he did. </p><p>“Cartman, this is not as funny as you think it is.” Except, Kyle was grinning as he said it. This seemed to sober Cartman just a little, and his laughs subsided, though a huge grin remained on his face. They stood in silence for a few seconds as blood continued to drip from Cartman’s nose. Kyle handed him a couple more tissues, grimacing, and opened his mouth to ask if he was okay.</p><p>Then, from the other room, Stan yelled, “<em>Kenny!</em>” and the illusion of seriousness was gone in an instant. Both Kyle and Cartman doubled over in uproarious laughter. As the next half-hour progressed (in which the two found that the cut in Cartman’s lip had reopened, which explained all the extra blood), they watched a truly fascinating conversation in their group-chat unfold, culminating in a (successful) group effort to get Stan’s boyfriend to compliment his ass.</p><p>What else were friends for, truly?</p><p>Almost exactly thirty minutes after the initial battle for Stan’s phone, Cartman and Kyle re-emerged victorious in their own fight to get Cartman to stop bleeding. Cartman clapped his hands together once, snatched the microphone from the ground, and turned to once again point it at Stan.</p><p>“O<em>kay</em>! Now that I’ve stopped bleeding like a pussy-ass bitch, we’re ready to fucking <em>go</em>!</p><p>Kyle collapsed back onto the couch again and groaned, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes. “I didn’t know it was possible for that much blood to come out of a person’s face.”</p><p>“Come on, come <em>on</em>! No time to sit down! Let’s do this!” Cartman gestured impatiently at the other pieces of the video game, shooting Kenny and Kyle glares. </p><p>Several run-throughs of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, a confusing and shittily-put-together performance of We Are the Champions by Queen, and an intense serenade of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On (by exclusively Cartman) later, the group agreed that it was time to take a break, eat some pizza, and put on a crappy horror movie. By the time they dismantled their Guitar Hero setup, Stan was grinning and laughing along with the rest of them, and only then did Kyle decide that their work for the day was done.</p><p>In the end, Kyle and Cartman passed out on the couch, the former practically laying on top of the latter, both under the fleece blanket they’d long-since managed to steal from Stan. Kenny and Stan ended up on the floor, leaned against the couch. Stan was fast asleep as well, his head on Kenny’s shoulder and his mouth slightly open, Gizmo stretched out across his shoulders. Kenny, drowsy but not quite asleep, lifted his phone and turned on the camera to snap a quick picture of the four of them. He threw up a peace sign as he did, and then tossed his phone off to the side. </p><p>Then, he shut his eyes, and the four of them were peacefully asleep. And in the morning, they made pancakes.</p>
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